The trolls ran as fast as they could, the growl beasts following close behind, snapping their teeth, trying to catch their lunch.

     Suddenly, the trail split, heading in two different directions.

     "Which way do we go?" Synth asked.

     Poppy looked left and right, having no idea where they even were, never mind which way to go to get home.

     Branch looked behind them, the growl beasts closing in.

     "We need to go!" he yelled, panicking.

     "Um..." Poppy said, looking left and right. "Split up!" she finally yelled.

     The trolls were confused for a moment at the queen's request. Splitting up seemed like the worst possible option right now, but they were running out of time, and didn't have many options left.

     Prince D, Copper, Barb, Synth, Poppy and Branch all went to the right, while everyone else went to the left.

     The growl beasts reached the fork in the road, stopping for a moment, as they looked at both possible paths.

     Finally, the leader roared, instructing the others to go to the right.

—————

     "They're coming!" Prince D yelled, twisting his long giraffe-like neck to look back at the approaching growl beasts, the six trolls still running for their lives. "Keep running!" Poppy ordered.

     As they ran, they suddenly reached a dead end, a tall dirt wall blocking their path.

     The trolls all stopped, looking around in a panic.

     "We're trapped!" Cooper panicked, jamming his head into the ground like an ostrich. "What do we do! I'm to awesome to die!" Barb yelled, grabbing Poppy's shoulders, and shaking her fiercely.

     Poppy looked around for a solution, finally spotting a small tunnel going into the dirt wall.

     "There!" she shouted, pointing. "Into that tunnel!"
"What!?" Branch yelled, looking at Poppy wide eyed. "That's the tunnel of certain death!"

     Barb slapped his face, grabbing his shoulder, as she glared deep into his eyes.

     "Well if we stay here, we get eaten by growl beasts!" she yelled in his face. "Does that sound better to you!?"
"No..." Branch admitted softly. "But there's gotta be another way!"

     He looked around for another solution, but there was none, and the growl beast were getting closer.

     "Just go!" Poppy yelled, grabbing onto Branch, and pulling him towards the tunnel. "Don't stop no matter what!"

     They ran into the tunnel, the growl beasts behind them quickly skittering to a stop, too scared to follow. They knew exactly where that tunnel led...

     The leader roared loudly, and then they all turned around, running back the opposite direction, abandoning their lunch. It was just to much of a risk to keep chasing it... they would have to find food elsewhere.

—————

     "Are they... still following... us?" Synth panted, running out of breath, as they sprinted through the tunnel.

     Poppy looked back, but could see nothing. The tunnel they were in was pitch black, and even with their hair lit up, they couldn't see a thing.

     "I don't know!" Poppy yelled, looking back at the others. "Just keep running!"

     They all nodded, continuing to run, listening to their queen's orders.

     Up ahead, the path ended, dropping off into a deep pit, so deep that even if it wasn't so dark, the bottom still wouldn't be able to be seen.

     The trolls didn't even notice the pit in the pitch black, and just kept running, unaware of the danger just ahead of them.

     Branch was in the front of the group, panting as he ran quickly, his foot suddenly stepping over the edge, causing him to tumble head first into the pit.

     "AHHHHH!" he screamed out in pure fear, as he fell.

     "Branch!" Poppy yelled, hearing his scream. She still couldn't see a thing, but kept running, hearing Branch's scream get quieter and quieter, as he fell deeper and deeper into the hole. "What happ..." Her question was cut off, when she suddenly fell too, everyone else falling in after her. "AHHHHH!"