Branch groans as he wakes up.

What happened to him the last thing he rembered was......pain......so much pain.....he doesn't even remember ever being in that much pain ever in his life.

He was doing as ok as he could but when all of sudden the pain had just skyrocketed in one go and he could hear himself screaming and while he was screaming he could hear his own bones crunch and snap and all of that. He would have taken a look but all that pain and screaming just took it out of him and he must have passed out.

There is only a slight ache in his legs now but he could move them now without having horrible pain being his reward for moving them so that's good.

Looking around he sees that Poppy is still asleep although it looks like she had some trouble sleeping if the messed up sleeping bag was any indicator.

Quietly he grabs his robe and gets out from bed when two things happen at once.

He is greeted with a dull ache at the base of his spine. He also looses his balance for some reason like there was somethingnwrong with his.....legs.

Luckily he manages to land back onto his bed. Trying again he tries to walk but is having a very difficult time to walk like something wasn't right so he has to lean on the wall for support as he makes his way out to get a better look at himself. Turning on the light in his bunker he couldn't believe his eyes.

"My legs.....what happened to my legs?!" He quietly exclaims not wanting to wake up Poppy. Gone were his normal straight legs like all trolls well most trolls have and instead were now digigrade shaped like a....a animal.

"Why" He asks himself as his ears lower in sadness. Why does this have to happen to him? Doesn't he get enough bad stuff dealt to him in life already?

Sighing he knows he has to learn to walk with these new legs of his. He keeps trying for 10 minutes and each attempt has him falling on his butt which also gives him a sharp jolt of pain at the base of his spine.

What was he doing wrong? He has been trying to walk like he would normally. Wait maybe that's the problem he shouldn't walk like he had normal feet anymore. Thinking of animals with feet similar to his new ones he begins to try and walk putting more weight on just around his pawpads mostly leaving his heels off the ground.

To his delight it works and he is finally able to take a few steps without falling. Still something feels wrong with the way he walks like something was missing but he can't guess what. Deciding to take a break for now he heads to his couch to relax and maybe yo see what was causing him so much pain on his spine. Along with pain it also feels like pressure is there like something was building up getting ready to be released that's the only way he could describe the sensation.

Laying down on his stomach as when he lays on his back or just sitting in general hurts he feels around where the pain is he stops when he feels a small lump. When he touches it can you guess what happens? Yep he is rewarded with pain!

"Can't I touch something without it hurting me?!" Branch was really starting to get sick of this. Going to the bathroom he takes a better look and it's just a small lump barely bigger than one of his pawpads. It's the same color as his fur so it shouldn't be noticeable as it's covered up by his shorts.

Sighing he isn't in the mood to cook anything right now he will if Poppy wants some when she wakes up but right now he just wants to lay down on the couch and be left alone and maybe nap a bit he doesn't know with all the stuff that's been going on he just feels overwhelmed.

Laying on his side he decides to get out the notebook he was working on and get to writing. He might have gone into great detail about the last stage he went through but it's needed. No troll should ever go through that pain. He remembers that Poppy is going to go through that exact same agony tomorrow he needs to be ready for it.

While writing the pressure that was at the base of his spine finally releases and he let's out a sigh of relief that it's gone when all of a sudden.

*Riiiip*

Ears perked up at the sound of ripping fabric he quickly reaches back only to fell something that was soft and fluffy and it was.....moving? Why could he feel his paw grabbing whatever it was that he was grabbing?!

He scrambles to the bathroom falling a few times still getting used to his new legs he looks around and has to do a double take to see if he was seeing was correct. He even washes his eyes with water and looks again and yep it was still there.

'Is that a tail?!' He so desperately wants to scream just how much more was he going to change?! It's one thing to have paws now it's another whing to have your legs rearrange their shape but it's a whole other situation when you grow a new appendage!

The tail is small at the moment it is currently wiggling a little as its only the size of one of his fingers. It's teal with black stripes in the middle of it. "Just put me out of my misery now" He groans having a tail is going to be so emberassing. And since the tail still aches he knows it's going to get bigger and longer and he isn't looking forward to it. He tries to move it but since it's so small nothing happens it seems to have a mind of its own.

He decides to just wallow in misery on his couch while writing in his notebook. It's around lunchtime when Poppy finally exits his room rubbing her eyes from sleep. "Hey Branch" She greets not like her usual happy self.

"Hey Poppy" He greets back. She goes over and makes herself a glass of oj. "Are you alright? I mean your not your usual cheery self?" He asks concerned for his girlfriend. "Its just....what I saw happen to you yesterday well.... I....I don't think I will ever be able to erase those sounds or that image in my mind. And that very same thing is going to happen to me tomorrow.I'm scared Branch I really am" She admits.

"You won't need to worry Poppy now that we know what to expect I will help you in whatever way I can I promise you that. I would pinkie promise but well this isn't the best setting for one" He says showing how serious he was.

She gasps at that as Branch doesn't ever make pinkie promises so he truly does mean it. She smiles at how caring he was being to her and she can't believe how lucky she is to have a boyfriend like him.

She looks back down at her feet seeing the pink pawpads that were growing at the moment. She knows tomorrow is the last day she will ever see them the way they are right now.

She heads back over to the couch "So anything new this morning?" She asks him. Before he can answer his traitorous tail makes a appearance by wagging as he looks at his gf. It has grown alot since this morning now it's almost to the back of his knees and it's almost at thick as his arms. He had felt it earlier and it was mostly fluff though.

Poppy gasps and near drops her cup. Her boyfriend now has a tail....he has a tail. He looks at her and it seems her mind is having trouble processing his new limb that he is quickly growing to dislike. "Branch.....you have a tail" Poppy says stating the obvious. "Yes I do" He replies back waiting for he knows what's to come next.

"I thought you having pawpads and paws was cute but this.....this takes the cake!" She says grabbing his tail making him yelp as she accidentally pulls on it just a bit by accident. Turns out his new limb is sensitive at the moment but hopefully with time it won't be as so.

Quickly she let's go apologizing before gently holding it and beginning to pet it. "Oh wow Branch it's so soft" she says amazed as she continues to pet his tail and he will not admit to her that it feels nice when she pets it.

"Wait....that also means I'm getting one! I hope it will be this fluffy!" She says excited for when her tail grows in. She begins to come up with ideas as to how she could style her tail even though they don't know if it will even look like his when it grows in.

As she says ideas he realizes he now has to cut holes in each of his pants to accommodate this new limb of his. Great just great, he gets up and heads to his closet and grabs some scissors along the way. Meanwhile Poppy is back to working on her scrapbook and soon enough all of his pants have holes in them.

After Poppy gets done with her scrapbook chapter she can't decide what to do next and is quickly becoming bored. "Braaaaanch I'm booored" She complains. "There's nothing we can do, you can't leave remember until this transformation situation is over" He reminds her and she just groans. "How about we get ready for tomorrow?" He suggests and she tilts her head confused.

"I mean gets get everything prepared for well...what's going to happen tomorrow. I got some pain medicine to help relieve it..well hopefully and we need to refreeze those icepacks cause they really did help me early on. And we also will need a......makeshift gag. Cause something tells me we are going to need one if my screaming was any indicator as to how bad it is" He explains and she nods.

It takes a few hours but soon they were both prepared for the inevitable onslaught of pain that was headed Poppy's way. They both give eachother a high five at their work and Poppy gives Branch a hug. "Thank you so much for doing for me Branch I really mean it" She thanks him and he return her hug.

"Its no problem you were there for me when I was hurting and now I'm gonna do the same for you" He says and she giggles confusing him. "What?" He asks confused. "Your tail is wagging" She says pointing to the still wagging appendage that now reaches his ankles. The tail as if sensing his anger stops and simple goes flat.

Yep he is going to hate this new limb alot,it shows how he feels all the time and the worst part is that it isn't even prehensile so he can't hold stuff with it! At least he can store stuff in it he found that out after doing some light testing on it so that's a good thing but still! He can only imagine the teasing he is going to get when he returns to the village and they see his new form.

It was getting late so he makes them some dinner and they both head to bed. "Hey Branch?" Poppy asks him. "Yeah?" He replies back. "Again thank you for this tomorrow could not come any faster I swear" Poppy jokes before turning over in her sleeping bag.

Smiling at his girlfriend he lays on his side as his new tail prevents him from sleeping on his back comfortably he tries to sleep he needs to be awake and ready to help Poppy tomorrow.

He soon falls asleep but his dreams are plagues by Poppys screams.

Sorry for a short chapter but Branch has a tail now horray! Now time for Poppy to get whacked with the angst stick.

Branchs tail is basically a raccoon tail only fluffier cause I saw art of him having one and I went yes.

His tail isn't prehensile but it's fluffy enough to where it can be used to store items sort of like trolls hair.

Here is what he looks like now