Quickly, Poppy began descending the steep cliff that the waterfall was spilling over, using her hair as a grappling hook so that she wouldn't accidentally slip and fall.

     "Branch!?" the young queen called out, her eyes frantically searching the water below for her boyfriend.

But there was no sign of the little blue pop troll anywhere... just the water flowing smoothly down the passing stream...

"Please, Branch!" she cried out in a desperate tone, sounding as if she were about to break down into tears at any moment... "Where are you!?"

     Finally, the queen of pop reached the bottom of the cliff she had been descending, quickly running to the edge of the river in complete panic...

     The water was much calmer down here, not moving half as fast as it had been at the top of the waterfall, but even with the clear waters revealing the bottom of the river... there was still no sign of Branch...

     "Branch!?" Poppy called out again, tears now pouring from her eyes and sliding smoothly down her cheeks at the thought of losing her best friend forever... "Branch!? Answer me!"

Silence...

Her heart racing in terror, the young queen looked all around herself, suddenly gasping in astonishment when she finally spotted a blue silhouette washed up on shore just a little ways down the river...

     "Branch!" Poppy shouted out in suspense, quickly running over to the little pop troll who was laying unconscious in the grass... "Branch! Branch! Wake up, Branch! Please wake up!" she cried shaking her best friend back and forth in a rapid manner.

But... no mater how much she begged... Branch just wouldn't awake from his deep dreamless slumber... and worse... much, much worse... the blue troll wasn't even breathing...

     "No... no, no, no..." the queen of pop whimpered in absolute terror, quickly rolling her boyfriend onto his back so she could lower her ear to his chest...

     There... a heartbeat... he was still alive!

     "Come on, Branch!" the young queen begged, beginning to shake him back and forth yet again. "You need to wake up! Please don't die, Branch! Please!"

     But nothing worked... the little troll just continued laying perfectly still on the damp grass, his eyes shut gently and mouth slightly ajar, the young boy completely unaware of his surroundings... unaware of Poppy's pleading tears of despair... he was slowly drifting away...

     "Oh god... no... no! Branch!" Poppy cried, placing her ear up to the survivalist's chest once more, hearing the fading sound of his laggard heartbeat... "Come on, Branch! Stay with me!"

     She had to do something... fast! Or... or she would lose him... forever...

     But what? What could she possibly do? He needed to breath!

     Wait... he needed to breath... he couldn't breath!

     Suddenly, with a soft gasp of realization, an idea popped right into Poppy's head... a brilliant lifesaving one!

     Safety training... although the young queen always complained about how boring Branch's lessons were... the blue troll had insisted she attended them every week. Something she definitely wasn't regretting now...

     CPR! He needed CPR! And thanks to those tedious lessons... she knew exactly how to perform it...

     Quickly, Poppy placed her hands over Branch's heart, beginning to pump rapidly on his chest...

     "Come on, Branch!" the queen of pop cried, pressing roughly onto her boyfriend's chest. "Breath! You need to breath!"

     Nothing...

"Please, Branch!" she begged, continuing her life saving attempt. "Stay with me! Please! Please, stay with me!"

Silence...

Giving up on the chest compressions for a few moments, the young queen tilted the unconscious troll's head back, blocking his nose before beginning to breath into his mouth...

"Come on... come on!" Poppy cried out, going back to rapidly pumping his chest when the kiss of life didn't work... "Please, Branch! Just breath! Breath!"

'Cough! Cough! Cough!'

The sudden sound sent a shiver of relief down the queen of pop's spine, the pink troll looking down with wide eyes at Branch as the little blue pop troll finally began coughing up water, gasping sharply as he struggled to breath...

"Branch! Branch!? Can you hear me!?" she cried out in a panic, placing both hands on her boyfriend's shoulders, desperately hoping he would react...

"Pop... cough, cough, cough..." he panted with a soft groan. "Pop... Pop... Pop... py... cough! Cough!"

His eyes remaining shut, Branch tried to sit up, but Poppy quickly pushed him back down...

"Stay down, Branch..." she instructed, her voice shaking dramatically. "Just relax... you're gonna be ok..."

'Cough! Cough, cough, cough!'

Gently, Poppy placed a comforting hand on her boyfriend's chest, feeling as it rose up and then fell back down rhythmically with his shaky breaths...

"Breath, Branch..." she whispered in a calming tone. "Just breath..."

Finally, the survivalist's breaths began to slowly go back to normal, his coughing dying down until it was at a complete stop...

"Ugh..." Branch finally groaned softly, turning his head slightly as his eyes remained shut...

Slowly, Poppy gently helped Branch sit up, the light blue pop troll instantly beginning to rub his eyes, feeling so tired all of a sudden...

"B... Branch?" Poppy finally muttered after a few seconds, gently stroking her boyfriend's cheek with the back of her pink fingertips... "Are... are you ok?"

He nodded, his eyes still shut as the young boy lowered his head, still seeming to be struggling to breath just a bit, his soaked body slightly shaking...

"I... I'm good..." he finally muttered softly, struggling to speak his words clearly. "I'm ok... I'm ok..."

Finally, Branch began to blink his eyes open, his vision a complete blur as he looked weakly up at Poppy who still sat right in front of him...

     "I am so sorry, Branch," she cried, hugging her arms tightly around the love of her life, so relieved to see that he was now alive and safe. "This is all my fault... I'm so sorry..."

"No, Poppy... none of this is your fault," Branch objected softly, his voice a bit crackly as he gently hugged her in return. "It's ok... I'm ok..."

     "You... you almost died..." Poppy cried, burying her face deep into Branch's shoulder. "And it's all because of me..."

"Poppy... look at me..." Branch instructed, gently raising his girlfriend's chin so she was looking him in the eyes...

He tried to gaze into her eyes as well... but his vision was still clouded, making his goal impossible... He could see the pink shape that was his girlfriend hovering just in front of him, but couldn't make out any specific details... the rest of the area clouded in a nonexistent void of black...

"I'm ok..." he continued despite his unknown vision problem. "And even if I wasn't... it wouldn't have been your fault... ok?"

Poppy nodded at the survivalist's calming words, slowly looking away from him as she wiped her tears with her arm...

Finally, the queen of pop pulled away from her boyfriend's loving grasp, looking closely at the blue troll in front of her...

     "You're sure your ok?" she asked, still concerned about her best friend's safety.

     With a sweet smile, Branch nodded in response to his girlfriend's question...

     "I'm fine," he assured. "Let's just keep moving so we can finally find your mom... ok?"

     The young queen nodded at her best friend's words, wiping away her tears completely before finally rising up to her feet.

     "Ok," she said softly, reaching out her hand with a slight smile to help Branch up to his feet. "Let's go..."

But instead of accepting her help like the queen of pop expected... the light blue pop troll just sat there, seeming to be staring off into space with slightly squinted eyes, the young boy trying his best to focus on the love of his life...

     Poppy cocked her head a bit in slight confusion, still holding out her hand. Her hand... that Branch couldn't see...

     "Are you sure you're ok?" the young queen asked in concern.

     Branch smiled at the question, and then nodded in response.

     "Yep. Perfectly fine," he lied, standing himself up, completely ignoring Poppy's hand which was still outstretched to him...

     The queen of pop frowned a bit at Branch's ignorance of her, slowly lowering her hand in slight despair...

Why hadn't he let her help? Was he mad at her?

     "Ready?" he finally asked, smiling slightly at his girlfriend.

     Poppy looked at him for a moment longer, and then finally nodded, letting a small smile come to her face...

     "Ok," she said softly, clear sorrow being heard in her voice. "Let's go..."

     She started to walk back towards the cliff she had scaled down only a few minutes before, Branch's smile fading as he watched the pink blur getting farther and farther away from where he stood...

What was wrong with him?

     Again, the survivalist began to rub his eyes, trying desperately to clear his vision. But... unfortunately... that didn't seem to do anything helpful...

—————

     Poppy reached the rocky cliff rather quickly before beginning to climb up towards the top of it... but she soon stopped when she realized Branch wasn't with her...

     "Branch?" she questioned in slight confusion, turning back to see that her boyfriend was still standing in the exact same spot she had just left him in only a few moments before, the blue pop troll frantically rubbing his eyes... "Branch? What's wrong with your eyes?"

     The survivalist lowered his hands from his eyes at the sound of Poppy's voice, looking up to her, but instead of seeing the beautiful pink troll he loved so much... the young boy only saw the black void of complete darkness surrounding him...

     "Um... nothing," he lied, smiling yet again. "I'm fine. I swear..."

He didn't want to lie... but he also didn't want to worry his girlfriend... so he decided that keeping what was going on with him a secret was the better option...

     Slowly, he began to walk forwards, finally spotting the pink blur which was Poppy...

     Confident he could make his new situation work, Branch headed for the young queen, soon passing her to hopefully lead them both to their destination...

Unfortunately... since all he could see was black darkness... the little troll didn't notice the cliff right in front of him...

     "Uhhh... Braaanch..." Poppy said softly in slight concern, seeing the survivalist not stopping as he approached the stone wall of the cliff blocking his path, the blue pop troll continuing to walk forwards... "Branch!"

     But it was too late...

"Oof..." Branch grunted as he crashed face first into the hard surface, stumbling back a bit before falling right down onto his butt with a soft groan of pain...

     "Branch!" the queen of pop yelled out in concern, worried about her best friend as she quickly ran over to help him back up to his feet... "What's going on with you!?"

     "N... nothing..." the young pop troll stated, rubbing his head. "I just... wasn't paying attention is all..."

"I don't know, Branch..." Poppy started in a worried tone. "You seem a bit off... are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine," Branch assured with a slight chuckle, turning back to the cliff as he reached out his arms, feeling the air as he slowly moved forwards, his hands finally touching the rock wall which was the cliff...

     Poppy looked at him in complete confusion, watching as the survivalist felt along the stone wall as if searching for a way around it...

Finally, she gasped, her eyes widening in horror as the young queen realized without a shadow of doubt what was going on...

     "Branch..." she started softly, her voice a bit shaky. "Can... can you see?"

     Freezing in place, Branch gulped at the question before slowly turning back to his girlfriend with a worried look plastered on his face...

     "Y... yeah..." he lied after a moment of hesitation.

     Slowly, Poppy walked over to him, realizing with a soft gasp that the blue troll's eyes were a clouded gray color, looking as if he was completely blind...

     "What's wrong with your eyes, Branch?" she asked sternly, her voice shaking in concern...

     "Nothing," he lied instantly, not wanting to worry the troll he cared about more than anything else in the world. "I'm fine."

     Not buying his words, Poppy lifted up two fingers, placing them right in front of Branch's face, all the while not once taking her eyes off of him..

     "How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked in a firm tone, waiting for her boyfriend to answer...

     "Um..." Branch started, squinting his eyes a bit to try and see. "Four?"

     Poppy gasped at the answer, backing away a bit in slight fear and concern...

     "You... you can't see anything..." she stated in disbelief, staring at her best friend in shock. "Can you..."

"What? Psh... Of course I can. I was just joking," he lied with a quiet chuckle, waving his hand through the air to try and play off his incorrect guess. "You were holding up three fingers."

     The young queen stared sadly at the light blue pop troll,  knowing he was lying about being able to see...

     "Uh... I... I mean... one?" he guessed, still trying to figure out how many fingers his girlfriend had been holding up, the little troll crossing his hands behind his back as he gave the queen of pop an innocent smile...

     "Branch..." Poppy said softly, fighting back the tears that threatened to escape her eyes at any moment. "Tell me the truth... can you see?"

"I... I..." he stuttered nervously before finally letting out a long sigh of defeat, the young boy lowering his head in shame. "I... can't..."