Tw for vomiting

Broken bones

Blood

Like I said Branch is getting it this chapter

For once its Poppy who wakes up before Branch. What woke her up was a slight stabbing sensation on her fingertips.
Her claws must be starting to come in welp no use going back to sleep with this pain.

Getting up she looks around the dark room noticing that Branch is still asleep although it looks like he is in pain if the soft groans that were coming from him were any indicator.

Getting up she goes over to him and shakes him gently "Branch? Are you ok? Are you having a nightmare?" She asks very concerned for her boyfriend.

"It hurts Poppy it hurts" He groans opening his eyes at her and was it her or were they glowing a bit? "Your feet? I mean aren't your claws growing in that should hurt just like it did for your hands right?" She asks him a bit confused.

"That but everything around and below my knees won't stop hurting its like I have pulled a muscle and it hurts so much to move my legs I can't even get up" He says. When he woke up to horrible pain he knew something else was happening. He could feel the pain in his toes from claws currently growing but when he could feel even worse pain in his legs he knew something was wrong.

Compared to the claws this is easily 10 times worse. If he could rate the pain the claws would be a 5 the fangs would be a 3 and this is a easy 10. "I don't think I can leave bed today Poppy sorry" He apologizes. "Nono it's ok Branch really. I will help take care of you until your better" She says placing his paw in hers and they both smile at eachother even if one is in alot of pain.

"I will go make some breakfast for us and you get to have breakfast in bed lucky you!" She cheerfully tells him and he just rolls his eyes playfully.

Poppy heads to the kitchen and begins to make some pancakes and omlettes for herself and Branch. Thankfully Branch has been teaching her some recipes that she has been wanting to try.  She checks the time and is surprised it's around 7:30 am as she usually sleeps until 8 and Branch usually gets up when the sun rises but then again he isn't exactly able to leave at the moment.

In the 2 days she has been here Branch always got up at around at the same time and she knows he tries his best to prevent her from waking up but her new enhanced hearing all but prevents that.

While waiting for the pan to heat up she looks at her paws. Like with branch there are little slits in her paws where the claws will come out of. She shudders as to what will happen later today if what Branch went through was any indicator. She just worries about this stage that he is going through right now becuase she will go through the same thing soon enough.

She also notices the fur on her  paws up to her wrists is becoming darker in color. It's a darker shade of pink than her hair which is surprising but then again Branchs paws are grey now so she guesses its a part of the transformation. She didn't want to bring it up with him in case it brings up bad memories or in case he was having a grey day as he has those every once in a while and with the whole transformation thing going on,although it wouldn't surprise her if he did have one.

Shaking her head she decides to worry about the negatives later,her boyfriend needs her right now! Soon enough there are 2 stacks of pancakes and 2 omlettes along with some milk and orange juice.

She heads back to Branchs room who is currently curled up on his side seemingly trying to find a position that is the least painful. "Here ya go Branch I used that recipe you taught me to make these" She says handing him a plate of pancakes and an omlette and his oj.

"Oh wow thanks Poppy ouch" He says as he gets up wincing in pain. He begins eating at a normal pace thankfully and she joins him as they both eat in blissful silence. Soon she finishes albeit quicker than him when she wants to check something. "Hey Branch?" She asks. "Hmm" He replies mouth full of food.

"Is it alright if I checked your feet and legs? I just want to see what's going on" She asks not wanting this to sound weird. "Uh sure go ahead I have been curious myself but I haven't been able to look myself as I have been in pain" He says and becuase he hasn't been able to muster up the courage to look,not that he will tell her.

Nodding she takes the covers and gently pulls back and looks at his legs. His feet were complete paws now hardly even resembling toes and the fur up to his ankles has begun to turn the same shade of grey as his paws. Just like with their paws there are slits right where his toes would be but now they look more animal like than troll.

Branch looks at his feet in horror. His feet were turning grey too?! And what happened to his toes?! He tries to wiggle them hut they barely move at all! Were they even considered toes anymore?! He winces at his attempt at moving his toes and his leg. He notices that the pain increases when he attempts to move any of his legs below the knees.

"Oh wow Branch this is not what I was expecting" She looks both amazed and shocked. "Me neither I'm pretty sure my toes weren't this shape when I went to bed, I mean they looked somewhat rounder but not this different! And my ankles! Look at the fur around them, it's grey!" He exclaims.

"Yeah how weird I mean it's sort of happening with me right now but my fur is just becoming a darker shade of pink and isn't turning grey like yours" She says showing him one of her paws. That was something he noticed when she brought him food,to be honest the darker pink suits her.

"Thanks for the food Poppy I really mean it. I didn't think the pain would be this bad. I know your in pain right now and don't you dare say you aren't, I saw you wince when you held your fork. You had to figure out a way to eat that doesn't hurt your fingers." He explains. Sometimes she forgets just how observative he can be especially when it comes to her.

"Its fine Branch really and yes while it does hurt I can tell yours is alot worse compared to mine. I will stay with you the whole time until this stage is complete I promise you that " She says giving him a gentle smile that makes his heart skip a beat every time he sees it. 

"Thanks Poppy that means alot to me" He says returning her gentle smile with one of his own and to both of their surprise she begins to softly purr. She gently places a paw on her chest. "So this is what it's like to purr....it feels weird but in a good way" She says with a small laugh at the end. They are then alerted to another sound and it's coming from Branch turns out he started to purr seemingly in response to Poppy's.

"Would you look at that we both are purring" He laughs a little and she joins him both trolls are quietly but happily enjoying eachothers company with the only sound being the purring that is being caused by them. Alas all good things must come to an end when his purring stops and he groans in pain again.

"I'll be right back Branch I'm just gonna grab some stuff to do while I'm in here taking care of you" She says and he nods before she quickly runs out and grabs her scrapbooking supplies along with some card games and a jigsaw puzzle along with a pack of ice for branchs pain maybe she can at least help numb it along with his scratching pad just in case he needs something to scratch and something to grip onto so he won't rip his bed sheets.

She is back in just a matter of minutes her arms full of supplies. "I have returned!" She proudly exclaims. "I can see that" Branch sarcastically retorts back. She sets out her supplies and games off to the side for the moment as she proceeds to hand him a ice pack for his legs.

"Thanks Poppy this means alot to me" He thanks her and as soon as she puts the ice on his legs she can see his face relax just a bit so it seems to help for now. "That feels so much better thanks I really mean it" He thanks her and yawns. "Whats wrong Branch? Did you not sleep well last night?" She asks.

"No this pain has kept me up a good majority of the night so I'm tired right now. I'm going to take a nap and savor this numbness for as long as possible." He says closing his eyes.

"Alright I will be over here working on this puzzle while you sleep" She says and she can see the briefest of nods coming from him. Normally she would scrapbook but all the cutting and stuff would probably bother him while trying to sleep and he very much obviously needs his sleep so she chose a quiet activity instead.

She is at the jigsaw puzzles for a while until around noon with the pain in her fingertips slowing increasing in pain. It's not excruciating at least not yet but it's actually starting to hurt almost the same pain as when her teeth fell out. Her ears perk up when she hears Branch let out a yelp in pain as he wakes up.

"Poppy" He takes a deep breath "My claws they are starting to come out I can feel it!" He exclaims. This is weird usually they would probably grow near the afternoon like with his paws. It usually isn't this soon but then again he is the only case they can go off of right now but still! She nods and while she was busy doing the puzzle she went and got some paper towels for the inevitable blood that would cone from his claws.

Gently lifting the covers she can hear Brach groaning occasionally yelping in pain as he grips his scratching board like crazy. Just like the day before right before her very eyes 2 sets of black claws come out of the slits that were on Branchs feet. They were curved downward and covered in blood just like before. Gently she takes the paper towel and wipes off the blood and soon the claws retract back into the paws.

"Is it done?" Branch asks her. "Yeah it's done they are out they just retracted a second ago" She tells him. "Than why am I still in pain?" He asks confused. "Wait you are?" She says shocked. "Yeah the claws coming out somehow hurt less than what I'm dealing with right now" He says turning his head to the side as if that will help the pain.

"When the ones on my hands came out afterwords my fingertips only ached a bit but soon went away and it's happening with my toes right now but the pain in my legs has not gone away at all" He explains as he looks at his feet that look almost as grey as his paws.

"It could be something else with your transformation maybe it is combining 2 stages at once?" Poppy suggests. "Could be but ugh why do that?" Branch questions even though he knows Poppy knows as much as he does when it comes to this transformation.

"Guess we will have to wait this stage out to see what happens" Branch groans at least with the other stages it was somewhat obvious what was changing but this is a total mystery to him. I can refreeze the ice pack if you want me to" Poppy asks him but he just shakes his head. "No it's getting to a point to where ice isn't doing much for me anymore" He says feeling bad that the blissful numbness of ice won't work anymore.

She just nods and covers him back up. "Do you....want to play some card games? It's a good way to pass the time" She suggests as she pulls out a deck of cards. He just nods and they begin to play.

They played through many rounds both have won and lost a good amount but Poppy is in the lead at the moment. As time ticked on by Branch began to loose focus more and more as the pain seemingly got worse and worse every hour. The same went for Poppy as she can feel it's almost time for her claws to come out as the stabbing is getting worse.

By mid afternoon he could no longer play as the pain got to be too much for him and he just lays in his bed as he wallows in agony. She really wishes she could do something for him but she can't go see Doctor Moonbloom when she looks the way she does.

Branch gently but firmly hold her paw "Poppy I have never felt this much pain before in my life. It hurts......it hurts so much I don't know how much more I can take" He tells her and it just breaks her heart into two. She has never seen this from him before. She has seen him sad before yes but never in pain before.

"I wish I could help I really do" She tells him to which he just smiles. "I know you would if you could" He says. The two trolls continue to hold eachothers paws for a good half hour before something happens.

Branchs breath hitches all of a sudden his pupils shrink to pinpricks and his grip on Poppy suddenly becomes so tight she though he was gonna cut off circulation in her paw. Thankfully he quickly grabs his scratching mat with his claws out and gripping so tightly she though he wa gonna break it. It doesn't help when he suddenly let's out a scream that shocks Poppy to her very core.

She has never heard Branch let alone anyone scream like that. If they were in the village she is pretty sure everyone would come to see what was going on as it sounded like someone was being murdered.

He thrashes in his bed his head waving side to side as if it will stop the pain as tears of pain come out of his eyes. "Branch! What's wrong?!" She frantically asks him but he doesn't answer her he just continues to scream.

That's when she hears it

**crack**

*snap*

*pop*

*crunch*

Horrified she takes the covers off of branchs legs and covers her mouth in horror. It takes everything in her not to vomit as tears begin to leak out of her eyes.

Right before her very eyes Branch's legs shift and morph and rearrange themselves all the while making those horrible sounds. Branch probably can't even hear it as he is screaming so loud and the pain isn't even letting him think properly.

She is so horrified that she doesn't even register the stabbing pain of her claws ripping through the slits of her paws.

The process takes at least two to 3 minutes but finally the noises stop and his legs stop morphing as they are now a digigrade shape instead of what normal troll legs should look like. The moment the sounds stop along with the transformation so does Branch's screaming as he gasps heavily from the pain.

Neither of them say anything for a good minute and when Poppy finally turns over to him to say something Branch is passed out due to the pain and stress of the transformation.

It's only then that she registers the blood dripping from her new claws. She looks at them,they were white in color and they were actually smaller than Branch' claws. Numbly she heads to the bathroom and washs her paws of blood. And then she proceeds to vomit for a few good minutes at the horror she just witnessed.

After cleaning herself up from that whole fiasco she heads out to see that Branch is fast asleep and she honestly doesn't blame him. 'Does he even know what happened to his legs? Or was he in too much pain to know?'She asks herself honestly neither option was good.

She decides to not eat anything as to not do anything to upset her stomach and just cuts off the lights and tries to sleep.

She didn't get much sleep that night becuase she knows that's what's going to happen to her too soon.