'Snap!'

     Branch jumped up at the sudden sound, his mind still slightly fogged by his former sleep...

     "Poppy..." he questioned in a soft whisper, looking around the pitch black area in slight fear. "Did you hear that?"

     Silence...

     "Poppy?"

     He turned, instantly seeing that the pink blur of his girlfriend was missing...

     Panic immediately set in, all his tiredness seeming to instantly fade away as the little blue troll quickly jumped up to his feet, looking all around himself for any signs of the troll he loved so much... the troll he cared so much about...

     "Poppy!?" he yelled out, his voice shaking in complete fear as he frantically searched his nearby surroundings. "Poppy!? Where are you!?"

     No reply...

     His heart racing in pure terror, Branch reached down, feeling around the dirt until he was finally able to grab hold of his blanket, the little troll putting the special fabric safely back into his hair before beginning to walk forwards, his hands out in front of himself to make sure he didn't accidentally bump into anything...

     "Poppy!?" he called, slowly moving forwards as he searched desperately for the love of his life. "Poppy, answer me!"

     Still... nothing...

     Branch was starting to get worried as he continued forwards his hands feeling frantically at the air in front of him...

     What if something bad had happened to her? What if she was taken by some wild animal!?

     "Pop... AHHH!"

     As he was about to call out once more for his beloved girlfriend, Branch suddenly tripped on a log spread out on the ground in front of him, the young boy falling flat onto his stomach with a mega 'oof'...

     "Ow..." the little pop troll groaned softly, laying on the ground with his eyes shut, the pain in his right leg seeming to get worse...

—————

     Off in the distance, the same creature who had followed the pair to their campsite was watching the pathetic troll from the shadows, their eyes narrowed at him as it growled softly before slowly walking forwards...

—————

     "Poppy!?" Branch continued screaming out loudly, his voice shaking in fear as he continued laying flat on the cold hard ground. "Poppy! Please! Where are you!?"

     'Crackle!'

     His ear twitching slightly to turn towards the sound, Branch finally opened his eyes, relieved to see a pink blur slowly approaching him...

     "There you are..." he sighed in relief, his heart rate slowly calming down as he pushed himself back up to his feet. "I was so worried about you, Poppy. Are you ok?"

     Silence...

     "Poppy?"

     Why wasn't she answering him?

     Confused, Branch squinted his eyes to try and see better, the pink blur still approaching slowly, not saying a single word...

     "Poppy?" he questioned, raising a slight eyebrow, his gut telling him that something was wrong... very... very... wrong...

     Suddenly, something like sand was thrown into the little blue troll's eyes, Branch stumbling back a bit in slight pain...

     "Ow!" the young boy cried out, immediately beginning to frantically rub his eyes, his corneas stinging fiercely from the sand-like object now invading them. "Frosting! What the hair?"

     Finally, once the stinging pain seemed to come to a halt, Branch began to slowly blink his eyes back open, the young troll seeing the pink blur still right in front of him.

     "Poppy..." he started, blinking his eyes a few times to try and see her better. "Why would you..."

     Amazingly, his vision suddenly began to clear, allowing the blue pop troll to clearly see who was in front of him...

     And... to his surprise... it was not Poppy...

     Branch gasped at the shocking sight, the young boy slowly backing away from the mystery creature in fear...

     It was the size of a troll, and even had pink skin like Poppy did... but this creature wore cloths more like what Branch would wear to blend into his surroundings. It also wore a mask to cover its entire face, a sharp staff covered in Growl Beast teeth clutched tightly in it's hand...

     "Stay back!" Branch warned, backing away slowly as he quickly got into a defensive position...

     But the creature didn't listen, slowly approaching the little troll as it held tightly onto it's staff, a small growl escaping it's throat...

     This creature... whatever it was... was dangerous... and worse... it had taken Poppy!

     "What did you do with Poppy!?" Branch demanded, his heart racing in terror, a firm glare plastered on his face as he stared straight at the beast in front of him. "Bring her back! Bring her back now!"

     The creature tilted it's head, getting down on all fours to continue it's threatening approach...

     With a gulp of pure terror, Branch continued backing away before he suddenly tripped on the same log as before, stumbling right down to the ground...

     His eyes wide, the young boy watched in horror as the creature got back up onto it's two feet, holding it's staff pointed directly at him...

     Staring straight up at the creature standing over him, all Branch could do was watch, the young boy whimpering quietly as the monster lowered it's staff down to his throat...

     "L... leave her alone!" the little troll yelled out in a firm tone, trying his best to hide his fear so he could protect the love of his life... "Don't hurt her!"

     Silence...

     Again Branch gulped in terror as the creature stared down at him with it's soulless black eyes...

     "Gruba!" the beast suddenly stated harshly, pointing down at the little blue troll it had trapped at it's feet...

Suddenly, before Branch could even react, a giant bird swooped down, grabbing hold of the little troll by the back of his patched shorts...

"AHHH! N... no!" he cried out, flailing around to try and escape the massive feathered threat's beak. "Put... put me down!"

"Takea hoom!" the mysterious creature ordered, the bird suddenly taking off into the sky, bringing Branch right along with it...

"AHHHHH!" Branch screamed out in pure terror, his heart pounding inside his chest as the bird lifted him into the air, flying the little troll helplessly off into the distance. "Noooo!"