'Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!'

Branch was awoken from his sleep the next morning by a loud and somewhat annoying banging on his door, his eyes still slightly burning from all the tears that had ran out of them the night before...

"Ugh..." he groaned sleepily as he looked over at his bedroom door, not wanting to get up from his tear stained bed.

He didn't care who was knocking... he just wanted to sulk until he felt better... Which unfortunately... would probably never happen...

Poppy made him happy... she was the one who had brought back his colors... and without her... he just felt lost... alone... broken... useless...

Groaning in despair and anger, Branch roughly covered up his ears with a pillow, trying his best to ignore the obnoxious banging on his front door...

But... that didn't seem to work too well...

The banging only seemed to grow louder by the second, becoming more and more desperate, until the point where the little slightly-grayer blue troll just had to get up and see who was creating this racket...

Slowly, his head low and hair a mess, Branch walked into his living room, passing by Gary who of course sassed him about his date the night before... teasing his father for ever believing he had a shot with the kindest, most perfect troll in the village...

"Shut up, Gary," Branch grumbled under his breath, shuffling depressingly onto his elevator so that he could ride up it to tell whoever was disturbing him to just go away and leave him alone...

He reached the top of his underground home, peaking through his little mail slot to see who was knocking...

Much to the survivalist's surprise... Poppy's father, King Peppy, was standing there, looking down at the doormat with a worried look on his face.

"King Peppy?" Branch muttered softly in confusion before opening up his hatch to greet the old troll, no longer feeling the erg to yell at the intruder... after all... this was the former king... and Branch admittedly had a soft spot in his heart for the old orange troll, actually enjoying his company almost as much as Poppy's...

Slowly, they graying grump climbed up out of his hatch to stand in front of the old King, looking at him with a slightly raised eyebrow...

"Not to be rude, or anything..." Branch finally stated softly, a bit nervous that he would accidentally offend his girlfrin... his acquaintance's father... "But... what are you doing here, King Peppy?"

"Have you seen my daughter?" Peppy asked in a slight panic, looking around the area for a quick moment before turning his attention back to the young troll in front of him.

Branch lowered his head at the question, his ears drooping a bit in sorrow as he looked away from the former King...

"Uh... no. I... I haven't seen Poppy..." he informed sadly, thinking about how she had stood him up the night before...

"Well, did she mention where she was going after your date last night?"

Branch looked up, shocked by what Peppy had just asked him...

"How did you know about that?" he questioned in confusion, knowing he hadn't mentioned the date to anyone but Dante... and that was only so he could make sure the restaurant was perfect for their special night...

"Poppy told me," the old king explained, still seaming rather panicked though he was now smiling, thinking about how happy his daughter had been the night before... "She was so excited for it. It was all she could talk about all day..."

     "You mean... she... she didn't forget?" Branch asked, a little bit of hope sparking in his heart at the wonderful thought...

     "Heavens no," Peppy denied, seeming shocked by the suggestion. "I mean... I know she's always enthusiastic... but I've never seen her this happy before... You're one special troll, Branch..."

Branch looked away from the former king once again, thinking carefully about the situation...

     He was ecstatic at the knowledge of finding out Poppy actually did want to be with him... but then again... if she hadn't forgotten about the date... then why didn't she show up?

"What's the last thing she told you?" the little blue troll finally asked, looking back up at Peppy with a determined expression on his face, willing to do anything to find the love of his life so he'd know she was safe...

"Well..." Peppy started, thinking carefully about the conversation he had had with Poppy the night before... "I was helping her get ready for the date. She had come to me saying how she wanted to wear something special, so I gave her her mother's old dress. The one she had worn on our first date. She told me how much she loved it... gave me a quick hug... and then left..."

'So she had gone to the date...' Branch thought to himself, looking away from the old king as he began tapping his chin thoughtfully...

     But... she never showed up... so... what had happened between the time she left... and the time they were supposed to meet?

     "I went by her pod this morning to see how the date had gone..." Peppy suddenly continued. "But she wasn't there... It looked as if she hadn't been home all night. I just assumed she was still with you..."

Branch gasped softly to himself, a terrifying thought suddenly popping into his head, and refusing to leave...

What if a predator had somehow snuck into the village and taken her? What if she was hurt!? What if she was out there somewhere right now, calling for help!?!?

"Poppy..." Branch suddenly whispered softly to himself, his eyes widening as he looked off into the distance, terrified by the thoughts that were now swimming through his brain...

Quickly, without even a moment longer of hesitation, he took off past Peppy, immediately running off into the forest in search of the one troll he loved more than anything else in the world...

"I'm coming, Poppy!"