The afternoon sun had been burning his neck for a few minutes, he surely had a little sunburn, and it would not be better if he stayed there. He knew this from his survival books.

Branch was still laying down on the shore, at his side was Princess Poppy herself who had somehow tried to save him before falling herself into the rapids with him. The breath of the two trolls was calm, they had evacuated the water from their system by coughing until it irritated their throats, giving them the impression of being in the middle of the desert when they had just come out of the water. Their only way of reassuring themselves was not to close their eyes, to look at each other, weak, and lost. They were lost.

Far from their home, away from Trollstopia. Completely lost.

Being just laying here for half an hour gave time to think, but the gray troll's head was so full of overwhelming thoughts that he just couldn't think... But it had to stop. He had to sort it out.

Let's recap.

He had fallen into the crazy river where he was supposed to build a barage... Poppy had tried to help him and hold him back from his fall but fell in too.

Branch had been swimming, trying to survive the river. He had found Poppy and managed to get her out of the river with him after a big death jump into an unknown lagoon...

Poppy was injured.

They were lost.

Poppy was injured, he had to do something. They were lost, they had to find a shelter for the night.

Branch squeaked with discomfort, drawing the pink troll's attention. With difficulty, she watched her companion stand up on his forearms, a few drops of silver water, shining flowing down his cheek to fall from his chin to the red water in which their bodies were immersed. She saw the huge eccymose under his ear, he had received this bruise when he fell down the waterfall.

The silence troll stood still, along with a few horrible tremors for another minute, under the worried gaze of Poppy who still didn't move a single bit. Her body was a pain as a whole. It was with a pinch in her heart that she watched the normally so strong and courageous Branch crawling weakly towards the ground of warm pebbles and sand, the water flowing from his body and his soacked clothes in a sound of droplets that was enough to give her a headache. When he was partly out of the water, he turned to his side, his shoulder uncomfortably stretched on the ground, supporting his weight with a cry of pain. Pain, he was in pain, but he was out of the water, it was one more step done.

Right now... He had to stand up on his legs. He couldn't stay there, he had to stand on his feet... If he stayed there, he would die, and so would Poppy. He had to move, just move.

With a growl of rage, Branch forced himself to get up, making a complaint to the pain that the sudden movement suddenly caused in his jaw and temples. Poppy let out a squeak of fear, worried about him at this scream of a hero in middle of a battle;

- B-Branch?... She called out his name, his ear didn't even twitched like it normally would;

- I-I'm alright... He murmured when he was done catching his breath, his eyes closed in pain, I-I... I have to get... We have to fucking get up !...

Poppy nodded weakly; Branch was right, they couldn't stay there. It was useless to stand there and do nothing, not fight for their lives, it would lead them to nothing except perhaps towards the destiny to which we were all destined to, one day or another.

Poppy tried to get up too, copying Branch's clumsy movements to get the best of the supports on the flat pebbles and sand of the beach. Branch turned his face towards her, the sun blinded him, and he had to close his eyes for a few seconds. His heart squeezed as he heard Poppy's cry of pain;

- B-Branch... My leg... It hurts...

Her leg... Her leg is hurt, he has to help her.

The silence troll turned to her, sitting on the beach. After a silent approval, he placed his arms under her shoulders, under her armpits, and pulled her towards him with a groan of pain in the effort... Soon, the princess was out of the water as well, and the blood from her wound in the open air was not an angelic sight.

Branch, having regained some of his lost strength, knelt down on her sides to observe the wound; the poor woman would certainly not be able to walk until the skin around the red flesh was cleaned, sewn and covered with bandages, in addition to a good pair of crutches... She was bleeding, her flesh open in contact with oxygen and throbbing with her messy breathing. Branch had a bad heartache. He almost wanted to lean over the lagoon and let go of his twisted emotions in a disgusting manner. He had never seen a wound that bad before.

- W-Wait, it's okay, I can... I think I can... He began to rummage through his raven black hair, his eyes staring in horror at the blood that escaped from the place where it was supposed to stay.

But the more he searched, the less he found... Then he remembered, he had thrown the first aid kit into the grass few hours before when Poppy had proposed it to him to lighten the hit he had done on his head.

So they didn't have any first aid kits with them.

The gray troll tried as best he could not to have a panic attack, to keep calm, to take deep breathe in - but he had no choice but to really throw up in the red water the very little he had eaten at lunch. He coughed violently, his shoulders agitated with trembling sobs. His eyes were blurred by tears of pain and his stomach twisted with disgust, fear and anguish.

How were they going to get out of this crap ?

- Are you o-okay? Poppy blew out silent words behind him when he was done.

He was about to throw up again, thinking of his faults, but he felt a warm hand cling to his arm. With a growl he pulled her up so that she could sit; Poppy literally crashed into his back. With relief she clung to his red-tinted leaf jacket and buried her cheek in it, rassuring him that she was still there, that they could make it out of here.

Somehow, she promised him that they would get out of this... Without a first aid kit, it would be more complicated, and they would have to do it quickly.

- I-- I can get... Natural medicines... He gasped for air at the pink troll leaning on his back.

- Please, do quick... she whispered, it was so weak that he had trouble understanding her cry for help.

With a somewhat recovering energy, the gray troll pulled his injured friend on the beach, leaving a trail of fresh blood on the ground that he hurried to cover with sand to hide as much as possible their track. He carried her to a rock against which she could lean her sore back. Once the pink troll was comfortably seated in the shade of a tree, he thought of the options he had... to create a natural bandage, there were several options... but the three he remembered were clay, honey, or a poultice. He leaned towards the pink troll to slide his thumbs over her eyelids so that she would open her eyes, the poor woman held back sobs.;

- I'll get you a bandage, alright ?

He had removed his leaf jacket, draining it before surrounding it around her leg.

- I-It hurts so bad... she squealed.

- I-I know... You just have to stay awake, that's all you have to do, Branch reassured her, shaking, okay ? ...

She nodded.

So Branch set to work and, making sure to stay in Poppy's field of vision, dug into the sand in search of clay, any type of clay that could help him make a natural, temporary bandage for her... He dug to the point of sweating way too much, feeling himself so fucking disguisting and smelling like hell, as if he had run a marathon, and still nothing.

Nothing.

Hopeless, he let out a roar of an animal rage and threw the sand in all directions, hitting the ground violently even though he knew it would be useless, so useless. Poppy jumped.

- ARRRGGHHHHH, D-DAMN IT, FUCKING BULLSHIT !! He screamed, crushing again in tears and sobs.

Poppy said nothing behind him, looking helplessly at the poor Branch in panic and his mind spinning with his own emotions that he was trying to contain deep within himself... She was about not to listen to him, to try to get up to go and cheer him up... but the male troll stood up on his trembling legs, chasing the sand from his shorts to find another solution. He sniffed loudly back his tears as he massaged the bruise under his ear, didn't even think to fix the dozen holes he had made on the beach.

If he couldn't find clay here, then he had two other options; honey or a simple poultice... was the first option really a good idea? Yes, it would be effective, but looking for honey meant going into the forest, away from Poppy, helpless with no one to protect her from a possible predator. Out of the question that he left her alone in a situation like this. Between the two of them, he was the only one able to defend them from the danger of nature.

- Poultice... a hiccup escaped from his painful jaw, I need a poultice...

He let his arm fall on his left side and walked towards Poppy... under the sun, purple could be seen along his jaw. Branch leaned over again, looking into the vegetation not far from the Princess of Pop... He sighed in sincere relief when he finally found what he was looking for; a wide cabbage leaf, perfect for a poultice. He took several of them and hid them in his hair in case, if more emergencies arose in the coming hours, he would have the necessities.

It was a relief to see the pink troll still awake when he came back to her, taking the pain like the real queen she would be. Her companion knelt awkwardly in front of her, and with a trembling hand, pulled out a small survival knife from his thick mane of hair. Poppy squeaked in fear at the sight of the pointy blade;

- Calm down, he said to her, I just wanna cut a part of this leaf.

He showed her the large, soft green leaf. Poppy watched him cut a bandage, prepare the poultice, even tearing fabric from his brown shorts to, after taking back his jacket covered with Poppy's blood, place a natural bandage around her leg. Now with the wound awkwardly covered, Branch calmed down more easily... He got up, and came back with a crutch that he had cut off from the branch of a tree.

- You have to walk, c'mon, his voice woke her up from her daydream, trying to forget the pain.

With Branch's help, she managed to get up on her intact leg. He had no choice, he offered her to lean on him. She wrapped an arm around his large shoulders and together they managed to move forward, slowly but surely.

She was scared.

Screw that, she was terrified, so terrified... Branch could feel her shaking against him.

... A song escaped from his heart.

The whistle made his lips tremble in a sweet melody, but this time it was painless, because the song was for her, it was there to reassure her.

Promise her that she was never going to be alone.

I promise that one day I'll be around
I'll keep you safe
I'll keep you sound.

Right now it's pretty crazy
And I don't know how to stop
Or slow it down...

Poppy didn't say anything, she didn't dare to look at him, nor did Branch. It was a silent promise that followed those words;

Hey...

I know there are some things we need to talk about..
And I can stay,
Just let me hold you for a little longer now.

Take a piece of my heart
And make it all your own...
So if we are apart
You'll never be alone~

You'll never be alone... ~

- Thank you, she whispered.

- D-Don't mention it ...

She smiled, she wasn't shaking anymore.

Now they had to find a shelter.

They walked for what seemed to be endless hours of suffering... Branch was several times forced to carry Poppy on his back, or in his arms for a few meters, whistling swear words under his breathe... but their efforts were rewarded at nightfall.

In front of them was a hole between three rocks, forming the perfect shelter where no large predator could sneak in. Poppy let out a little laugh of relief.

So the gray troll pulled her inside the hiding place to hide her, offering her the idea of curling up in her pink hair to stay warm while he went to get some firewood. She did what he told her to do. Branch knew what he was doing.

But while she was alone in the dark, she heard the voice of the gray troll rising in the night... He was calling for help. It was a heartbreaking cry, pierced by the pain that ran through his jaw.... They were so far from Trollstopia, days away from home. Poppy realized that at the end, she and Branch had something in common... They were attached to their village, and they wanted to go home.

Just going back home, was it too much to ask?....

A hundred million stories
And a hundred million songs
I feel stupid when I sing
Nobody's listening to me
Nobody's listening
I talk to shooting stars
But they always get it wrong
I feel stupid when I pray
So, why am I praying anyway
If nobody's listening?

Anyone, please send me anyone
Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone, oh~
Anyone, please send me anyone
Lord, is there anyone?
I need someone !!

...

Far away, unable to hear the gray troll's song, that anyone was looking for Poppy.

Barb was walking towards the crazy river, a little bit angry... She and the pink troll were both supposed to show up at a leaders' meeting that night to organize 'Flowers Day' but Poppy hasn't showed a single bit the tip of her pink hair ! The troll rock had quickly assumed that she went to see the fabulous, hot and sexy Branch who was working on the barage... That was Poppy's words, not hers.

But when she arrived at the deserted construction site, instead of leaving immediately to keep looking, Barb stopped her moment of rage... Something seemed strange.... A pre-feeling? Maybe... Something told her it didn't make sense at all... Something was wrong here. She had to do her investigation.

Queen Barb walked to the table where the plans were still spread out without having been put away... She lit the tip of her hair to see better; Branch had drawn a great part of the work ge had to do and several lines impossible to read if one was not an engineer like the silence troll... Yet some lines were unfinished... Why didn't he take the plans home to finish it ?? She knew Branch wasn't the kind of troll to let his work unfinished like this!

She continued her observations... There, a first aid kit thrown into the grass. Why leave it aside??

- POPPY?? BRANCH? She shouted their names.

No answer.

Barb frowned... It was really strange... Were they in the fear bunker? No, Branch wouldn't have let her in, right?

But despite the number of knocks on the huge rock, no answers or nervous whispers inside the hiding place... Where were Branch and Poppy ???

Barb returned to the river, shouting the name of her friend and the grumpy troll... She was really starting to worry; the two trolls were nowhere in sight! What if something happened to them?

... Something had happened to them.

Barb understood this when she noticed the traces of hair on the edge of the cliff and scarpbooking material floating on the swirling water.