"Yeah! Chop that guys head off!" Barb cheered, watching the flame figures fight each other.

Tula watched in horror.

"Ummm... this is a tragic moment from the past..." Tula said, nervously. "And you're cheering for it..."
"Gore is the best!" Barb replied, with a slight laugh, cheering for the fight.

Chief Tula, slowly backed away.

"Ok than..."

"Help!" a scream suddenly rang out from off in the forest.

Both Tula and Barb turned off in the direction it had come from.

"Tula! We need help!"

"That's Poppy," Barb said, standing up from the fire.
"Come on. We have to go see what's wrong," Chief Tula said, beginning to run towards the cries for help.

Barb looked back at the fire.

"But this is my favorite part," she whined.

(Violence that I will not describe was happening in the flames.)

"Ha!" Barb laughed, loudly.

"BARB!" Tula yelled, demanding that she come right this instant.

"Ugh... fine! I'm coming!" Barb replied, crossing her arms, as she stomped off after Tula.

———————

Poppy carried Branch, as she ran through the forest, trying to get him to Tula as quickly as possible.

Branch lay limply in her arms, struggling to breath, the pain getting worse and worse.

"You're gonna be ok, Branch," Poppy cried, softly, as she continued running. "Just try to stay awake. Ok?"

     He didn't respond. He just lie there, weakly, unable to move, his eyes barely open.

     "Help!" Poppy called out again, hoping someone would hear her.

     "Popsqueek!" she heard.

     "Barb! Barb! We're over here! Hurry!" Poppy yelled out.

     Quickly, Barb and Tula ran towards the shout, finally spotting Poppy holding Branch.

     Barb's eyes widened, as she saw Branch, becoming concerned for his safety.

     "What happened!?" Tula asked, running up to Poppy and Branch.

     "Aqua..." Poppy cried, gently placing Branch on the ground.

     Tula knelt down next to Branch, lifting his arm to check his pulse.

     "His pulse is slow... we don't have much time," she informed.

     "Can... can you save him?" Poppy asked, holding Branch's hand tightly in hers.

     "It depends..." Tula said, softly. "What is wrong with Aqua?"
"There's no water in the river," Poppy said through her tears.

     Chief Tula looked away, sadly, as she thought about what to do.

     "Ok..." she finally said, looking back up at Poppy. "We have two options here. Option number one... you two stay here, and make sure Branch stays awake, while I go try to save Aqua. That'll help them both, but has a very low probability of actually working."

     Poppy nodded.

     "And the second option?" she asked.

     "There's a way... to unconnected Branch from Aqua. He will immediately be healed with a 100% success rate."

     "That one! Do it!" Poppy yelled, interrupting Tula.

     "But..." Tula continued. "Without a troll connection to Aqua... Aqua will die."

     Poppy gasped, and then looked down at Branch, tears flowing from her eyes.

     "D... do it," she said, squeezing tightly onto Branch's hand.

     Tula nodded, turning to Branch, ready to unconnected him from Aqua.

     "N... no..." Branch said, his voice low, and shaky. He could barely speak, but he forced himself to, as he turned his head, looking up at Tula.

     "S... s... save... A... Aqua."

     A sharp pain shot through him, as he winced, finding it harder and harder to stay conscious.

     "Branch..." Poppy whispered. "It's... it's not worth it. If it doesn't work... you'll both die."

     "At least..." he struggled to say. "There's... a chance..."

     He looked up at her, pleading with her to listen.

     "P... please. Save... Aqua."

     Poppy looked down at him, and then slowly nodded.

     Tula looked at Poppy, knowing what the decision was.

     "Where is Aqua?" she asked.

     "Near the dam," Poppy said, as she continued looking down at Branch, as he smiled, weakly up at her.

     "Make sure he stays awake," Tula said, standing up. "I'll be back."

     She ran off towards the dam, on her way to save both Aqua and Branch.