Branch had grown so much...

     Poppy couldn't help but smile as she looked around her best friend's survival bunker. What used to be a private dwelling for only him... a place where he would never allow another living being to enter... was now filled to the brim with trolls...

     He was trusting them... he was trusting them all to be in his home... just so the villagers would be safe...

Even though it had only been a few weeks since Branch finally found his colors again... he was already working hard on being a better troll... and Poppy couldn't be more proud...

     'Don't touch anything!' That was his only request... but this was Poppy we're talking about. Curiosity was her greatest weakness...

     So... the young queen just couldn't help herself...

Once she saw the small shelf dug out in the wall, a thin curtain hiding it's contents from sight... the little pink troll just had to know what was being kept there...

Not even bothering to be sneaky, Poppy walked right over to the shelf. Branch wasn't here... he'd never even know...

Almost as if she wasn't aware that what she was doing was extremely wrong... the young queen smiled wide as she ripped open the curtain, her face instantly going blank with shock once she saw what was hidden on the 'super secret' shelf...

"My... my invitations?"

Simply not believing her eyes, Poppy reached out to grab one of the seemingly useless pieces of paper, opening it up only to have glitter burst into her face...

'Celebrate freedom from the Bergens!' a tiny scrapbook cutout of Branch sang, swaying back and forth...

But... but she saw him decimate this card... how was it now in perfect condition?

That's when she noticed... there were little folds of tape and glue... this invitation had been carefully put back together after it was destroyed... by... by Branch...

Slowly looking up to the rest of the cards, Poppy realized... all of them were there... every single invitation she had ever made for the village grump... he had kept... after all these years of self-isolation... he kept them all...

"Poppy! Poppy!" a sudden panicked shout rung out, the young queen quickly hiding away the invitation she was holding before looking up.

"Yes, Dj? What's u..." she started looking up to see her friend running towards her. But the young queen froze, her eyes widening in horror as an almost silent gasp escaped her throat. "Branch..."

Behind Dj, two trolls dressed in camo rushed forwards, a lifeless looking Branch being dragged in their grasps...

"Branch!" Poppy shrieked out in terror, the young queen quickly rushing forwards to take her best friend into her lap. "B... Branch?" she whispered, sitting down as she held the motionless troll in her arms, her fingers gently stroking through his thick dark blue hair... "Can... can you hear me?"

Silence...

"We went out to patrol the village..." one of the two officers in camo informed. "To make sure those critters hadn't come back..."
"We found him like this out in the forest..." explained the other. "He wouldn't wake up... so we brought him here..."

"Oh, Branch..." Poppy cried, looking down at his bruised face... "I shouldn't of let you go alone..."

The little troll's body was covered in bruises as well as a large red bump having been formed on his forehead... three claw marks were imprinted on his chest and a large burn on his cheek...

Poppy knew instantly what had happened to him... those creatures attacked the poor boy... and he lost the battle...

"N... no..." she cried, placing a gentle hand on her best friend's chest. "Please no..."

It was then that with a small gasp... Poppy noticed something...

His chest... it was moving up and down below her hand... he was breathing! Branch was alive!

"Branch..." she whispered, gently shaking her best friend to try and release him from his dreamless slumber. "Branch, please... please wake up..."

Everyone was gathered around the two trolls, looking on in fear and sorrow... what... what was going to happen to Branch?

"Ugh..." the young boy finally groaned, slowly beginning to stir in Poppy's arms. "Where... where am I..."

"Branch!"

At the sound of the happy shriek, Branch looked up, his eyes struggling to focus on the pink blur in front of him...

"P... Poppy?" he questioned in a soft murmur, looking weakly up at the troll he secretly loved more than anything else in the world... He was so tired...

"Yes, Branch..." the young queen assured, gently stroking his forehead which seemed to have a fever. "It's me... I'm right here... you're safe now..."

"The... the creatures..." he muttered, the poor thing seeming to struggle with his words. "They're... they're not from here..."

He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his chest prevented him from doing so, sending the poor boy falling right back down with a scream of pain...

"Stay down, Branch..." Poppy whispered as she saw him clutching at his still bleeding chest. "Just relax... you're gonna be ok..."

His whole body ached, his right cheek feeling as if it had been lit on fire... then again... maybe that's what happened...

But he couldn't rest like Poppy was telling him to... he couldn't sleep like his brain and body so desperately needed him to... his family was in danger... he needed to warn them...

"They're... they're from... from another... di... dimension..." he struggled to say, his eyes slowly blinking open and shut, the young boy having so much trouble staying awake. "The... the wormhole... wormhole closed... but... but one... one didn't go in... it... it's still... still here..."

Poppy looked sadly down at Branch as he spoke, his eyes finally falling shut once and for all...

"D... dan... danger..." he muttered softly, his voice beginning to fade along with his consciousness. "We're... we're all in... in... danger..."