Pain...

     So much pain...

     His head was aching as the blue troll began to wake up from his long dreamless slumber, his chest feeling as if there was a bonfire burning inside of it...

     "Ugh..." he groaned, his eyes slowly blinking open to observe his surroundings...

     He was... in his room?

     "H... hello?" the young boy called out in a weak sounding voice, looking to see if anyone was around...

     What had happened? How did he get here? Were the others ok? Was Poppy ok!?

     Slowly pushing himself up, Branch couldn't help but wince in pain, his face scrunching up as he fell right back down into his bed...

     "Ow..." he groaned, his eyes now shut once again...

     Get up... he had to get up... he had to find Poppy...

     "Ok... ok..." the young boy muttered softly, trying to work up the strength to move his aching body. "Up... sit up... I can... I can do it..."

     With a quick scream of pain, the survivalist finally managed to sit up, the poor boy panting heavily in exhaustion as he allowed his eyes to squeeze shut once more...

     One step closer... he was almost up...

     "Ok... ok, ok, ok..." Branch muttered, slowly forcing his eyes to open once more to look towards the closed door...

     Almost like a baby taking it's first step, Branch pushed himself up to his feet before slowly beginning to wobble towards the door, the poor boy almost falling several times during his desperate mission...

—————

     "What are we going to do, queen Poppy!?" a random troll asked in a panic, everyone gathered around their queen as they all stood in the living-room of Branch's bunker... "What if the monster comes back!?" asked another.
"It'll destroy us all!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

     "Everyone! Everyone calm down!" Poppy yelled, trying to break through to all the panicking trolls, everyone running around the area in terror, most of them accidentally knocking Branch's precious ration jars to the floor. "Everything will be ok! Branch and I..."
"Branch is hurt!" someone interrupted.

     Poppy froze at those three heart shattering words, a few tears coming to her eyes as she looked out at the panicking crowd...

     "Branch is the only one of us that actually had a chance to beat those creatures!" the random troll shouted. "He's the survivalist! He's the one who is all about safety! He's the smartest and most prepared troll in the entire universe! And even he couldn't beat this monster! What chance do we have!?"

     Poppy sighed, the young queen lowering her head in despair...

     "He'll be ok..." she whispered, almost seeming as if she were talking more to herself than this random troll, trying to assure herself that Branch would make it through this. "He'll get better... He'll wake up... and be ok... I know he will..."

     She looked back up at the crowed of trolls still running around the room like crazy people, long screams of terror filling the air...

     "Everyone!" she finally shouted out at the top of her lungs, sick and tired of them destroying everything Branch had worked so hard on. "Shut up!"

     Shocked by the sudden harsh tone in their queen's voice, everyone immediately fell silent, turning to look at the pink troll...

     "Listen... we'll figure something out!" she announced. "And in the meantime... Branch was nice enough to let us all stay in his home! So maybe you should all just stop destroying everything he's worked his entire life to build and just relax!"

     Silence...

     All the trolls stared at Poppy in complete shock, suddenly feeling bad for their actions... they hadn't meant to destroy the little blue troll's stuff... they hoped he wouldn't be mad if he ever managed to wake up...

     "Po... Poppy?"

     Everyone turned at the sound of the sudden voice, gasping when they saw Branch standing there, the little troll leaning his hand against the doorway he was standing in to keep his balance...

     "Branch!" Poppy yelled out in excitement, quickly running over to hug her best friend. "You're awake!"

     "Are you ok?" Branch asked in concern, hugging her in return, her safety the only thing on his mind...

     "I'm fine, Branch..." Poppy assured, pulling away slightly from the hug so she could look at her best friend who still seemed super weak, his eyes glossy and skin pale and sweaty. "You should be in bed..."

     "I... I'm fine..." he assured, shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the dizziness he still felt in his brain, his tiredness seeming to finally fade away. "I'm ok..."

     Slowly, he turned to the rest of the trolls, quickly noticing that everyone was looking at him in concern...

     "Uh... what's going on?" he asked in confusion.
"You told me to bring everyone down to your bunker..." Poppy replied, placing a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "Remember?"
"No, no... I know that..." he said, looking back to Poppy. "I meant..." He paused, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Why are they all staring at me..."

     Poppy looked to the rest of the trolls for a quick moment before finally turning back to Branch...

     "They were all worried about you..." she finally informed in a soft tone, looking right into Branch's eyes.

     "Worried? About... me?" Branch asked, not believing his ears, as he looked around at all the trolls staring at him...

     He was under the impression none of them cared about him... that... none of them even liked him... He was the village grump after all... why would they care about his safety?

     "Well... yeah..." Poppy shrugged, taking Branch's hands in hers which caused him to quickly look back down at her. "You were unconscious for three days..."

     "Th... three day?" Branch asked in shock.

     "You were really hurt, Branch," the young queen informed in a saddened tone. "The creature..."
"The creature..." Branch suddenly interrupted, the little troll's eyes widening in horror. "It's still out there! We need to stop it from coming back!"
"But... Branch..."
"Traps! I need to set traps!"

     Beginning to panic about the village's safety... about Poppy's safety... Branch quickly went to run towards his elevator, the poor boy stumbling forwards a bit, his legs still a bit weak from his injuries, feeling exactly like jello as he began to fall forwards...

     "Branch!" Poppy shrieked out in terror, quickly grabbing hold of the little blue troll before he could hit the floor. "You can barely even walk, Branch... you can't go out there..."

     "But... but..." Branch started in protest, but Poppy quickly cut him off, beginning to help her friend back into his room so he could rest...

     "No buts, Branch..." she insisted. "You're going back to bed... the rest of the trolls and I will deal with the critter... you just need to get better..."

     Branch sighed, lowering his head as his ears drooped down in despair... but he didn't fight, allowing Poppy to lead him into his room, knowing she only wanted what was best for him... just like he wanted what was best for her...